'Dangerous' Crest Hill Police Chase Killed Joliet Man: Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — One year after an early morning high-speed chase resulted in the death of a Joliet man on the city's West Jefferson Street, the Crest Hill Police Department and Crest Hill Police Officer John McHale are being sued by the man's survivors.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed this week by attorney Nicolette Ward of Romanucci & Blandin, a Chicago law firm on North Clark Street.

On May 26, 2019, 60-year-old Joliet resident Suos Khloth was killed and his passenger, Ratanak Kong, suffered a broken collarbone when a Mitsubishi fleeing from the Crest Hill officer rear-ended their 2001 Jaguar XJ8 along an eastbound stretch of Jefferson Street, court documents show.

Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark declined to comment on Thursday, saying it's his policy not to talk about pending litigation involving the police department and his officers.

The 1:11 a.m. crash in Joliet near Reedswood Drive caused Khloth to lose control of his Jaguar and strike a tree. The crash victim was survived by his wife and their three sons.

The Chicago law firm accuses Officer McHale of negligence and violating Crest Hill Police Department policies by conducting a chase while it was raining and the streets were wet, among other issues. McHale was traveling at speeds of 91 mph as he chased after a fleeing vehicle through residential and commercial neighborhoods where the posted speed limit was 35 and 40 mph, court documents show.

The chase began in Crest Hill and ended on one of the busiest streets in Joliet.

"At no time prior to these collisions did defendant McHale terminate the pursuit," the wrongful death lawsuit states.

According to the plaintiff's lawyer, "McHale was violation of the general orders of the Crest Hill Police Department, due to factors including ... the high speeds of the pursuit, the lack of probable cause to believe that the pursued driver had committed offenses other than traffic violations, the violations of multiple traffic control devices by the pursued driver, the presence of other traffic on the pursuit route, the length of the pursuit and time duration of the pursuit."

McHale's chase lasted four minutes and 37 seconds and spanned 4.8 miles.

After the fleeing vehicle crashed into the Joliet man's Jaguar, two men bailed out of their sport utility vehicle and ran away, police said. The passenger was quickly captured by Joliet police. The driver, Anthony Casterberry, was captured a month later in Tennessee, police said.

According to court documents, McHale was working an overnight patrol shift on May 26, 2019, and he was driving a fully marked Crest Hill squad car, equipped with working lights and sirens.

At 1:06 a.m., McHale saw a gray Mitsubishi sports utility vehicle disobey a red light while speeding at Plainfield Road and Larkin Avenue, the lawsuit states. The speeding SUV turned southbound on Larkin Avenue and McHale decided to follow it.

When McHale activated his sirens, the Mitsubishi switched lanes and began to speed away, the lawsuit indicates.

"At the time the pursuit began, Officer McHale did not suspect the driver of the Mitsubishi of any crime other than the observed traffic-related offenses," the wrongful death lawsuit states.

The Crest Hill officer pursued the SUV along Theodore Street, then Cedarwood Drive. The fleeing motorist blew red lights at 129th, Infantry Drive, Glenwood Avenue, Black Road and Jefferson Street before turning on Jefferson Street in Joliet, court records reflect.

All the while, McHale "did not terminate his pursuit of the Mitsubishi,"the Chicago law firm noted. At 1:11 a.m., the fleeing motorist collided with the 60-year-old Joliet man's Jaguar, causing the man to hit a tree and die, court records show.

The plaintiffs listed 13 factors they say indicate the Crest Hill officer showed a conscious disregard for the safety of others, improperly participating in a pursuit when it was not safe to do so while chasing the stolen vehicle through multiple traffic control devices in a residential and commercial neighborhood.

The lawsuit also states McHale "failed to abandon the alleged vehicle pursuit when it was clearly dangerous to innocent third parties including Suos Khloth."

The lawsuit does not name the Joliet Police Department and the Will County Sheriff's Office as defendants. However, the plaintiff's lawyer has asked Will County judges to make the two police departments turn over their reports surrounding the deadly crash.

Court documents identify the responding officers as Joliet police officer Michael Matutis along with Will County Sheriff's Sgt. Steven Mathis and sheriff's deputy Steve Adent.

"We’ve received information through our investigation that officers from Joliet and Will County were present for a portion of the pursuit, immediately before the crash that killed Mr. Khloth," the plaintiff's lawyer told Patch. "We’ve named them as respondents in discovery to allow us to further investigate what the extent of their participation was and what they may have observed."

As for Casterberry, the 23-year-old Joliet man has remained in the Will County Jail since June 30, 2019. His is charged with felony reckless homicide and is still awaiting trial.

The suit seeks a judgment of more than $50,000 against Crest Hill and Officer McHale, plus costs for bringing the lawsuit forward.